I swallowed hard.

“Oh, don’t worry yourself too much about this,” she smiled bitterly. “Someone has been coming to treat the wounds.”

“Who?” I raised a brow. I didn’t know why I even asked. I already knew the answer before she gave it to me.

“Yuri,” she responded. A sudden spark of delight appeared in her big brown eyes. “Are you going to punish him for helping me? You really should… his ‘treatments’ hurt like hell. I’m starting to think he just enjoys hearing me scream with pain.”

I had half the mind to ask her about the younger Lazaroff, but decided not to. The thought of exploring Claudia’s twisted mind wasn’t all that inviting and it wasn’t why I came.

“Anyway, do tell me why you’re here, Prince Derek. I’m dying to know.”

“Ben…”

Her eyes flickered with recognition at the mention of the name.

“You remember him?”

“Of course. He was special… that one… hard to forget. I regret ever taking him with me when I visited you, but how could I have known that your fiery little pet once knew him? How is she anyway?”

Ignoring her, I got straight to my point. “I’m assuming that you already had a taste of his blood from the first night you had him with you. Am I correct?”

She confirmed my suspicions with a nod.

“How did you manage to drink of him for so long without ending his life? How did you have that kind of control?”

She grew pensive, as if she too were surprised by what she was able to accomplish. “Why do you ask?” She stalled answering my question.

“I crave a girl. I’ve tasted her blood and now I’m desperate to finish the kill.”

“Your lovely redhead? Such a beautiful thing to waste on one kill…”

“Answer my question.” First, Vivienne. Now, Claudia. The constant mention of Sofia was grating on my nerves.

“Always so feisty.” She pouted, and then gave my question thought before responding, “I was never able to control myself from finishing a human off for more than a week or two.”

“But he was with you for many weeks… He was brought to The Shade not long after Sofia was…” Her name left a bitter taste on my mouth.

“He reminded me of someone. Someone from the past.” Something dark and wicked marred Claudia’s countenance. “As I said, he was special… I wanted to keep him for as long as I was able.” She shrugged. “Perhaps rage toward a human gives us some form of control.”

I shook my head, slowly comprehending. “Not rage… emotion…”

“Perhaps. Is that all you came to ask?” She stretched her back and winced at the wounds she forgot she had. She cast me a fleeting glance – unintentional and full of rage.

I did this to her.

“Pretty little Sofia…” Claudia’s gaze was now blank, her words full of venom. It was as if the girl I was speaking to only moments ago was gone and she was now possessed by a whole different person. “Ben spoke of her in his sleep. What is it with her that has got him and even you so wrapped up in her?”

She revisited the memory of their reunion, and forced me to relive it right along with her.

“Do you remember the look on their eyes when they saw each other? The way they embraced each other… so young… so in love… How does that not bother you?”

I swallowed hard. Unwelcome imaginations of Ben and Sofia in each other’s arms, happy and in love, rushed through my mind. I wondered if Claudia was taunting me, but the anger blazing in her eyes told me that she too was living out the jealousy she felt upon seeing them together. Her rage was directed not at me, but at him, at her.

I remembered that day all too well. Claudia came to pay me tribute and Sofia arrived from a walk outside. It was clear to see that she and Ben held affection for each other, so I asked Claudia to give Ben to me – for Sofia’s sake. I remembered how I held Claudia and pulled her body against mine as I gave her my request. I used Claudia just to see how Sofia would react to me placing my hands on the sultry, blonde vampire.

I did not imagine it. I knew I saw jealousy in Sofia’s green gaze.

I didn’t know what spirit possessed me to do it, but all I could think of was exacting revenge on Sofia for leaving me. I wanted to make her jealous again. Before I could make sense of what was happening, I had Claudia on the cot, her body writhing beneath mine.

For a short span of time, my mind was too consumed by Claudia, Ben and Sofia for it to have room for my craving for Ashley, but I was fully aware that by sleeping with Claudia, I’d just hit a new low. As I got off her and began putting my clothes back on, I realized that she was softly sobbing. I looked her way. Her back was turned to me. The fresh, matted wounds that criss-crossed her back made my stomach turn.

Gone was the raging vampire seeking to mete out her revenge on Ben and Sofia. In its place was a broken little girl.

The guilt I felt reminded me of the humanity I still allowed myself to have. In my longing to ease my guilt, I unintentionally did the worst thing I could do to one such as Claudia. I told her that I would lessen her sentence for “the service” she afforded me.

The glare she gave me was meant to inflict horrible pain before going for a kill. I realized my mistake immediately, reminded of what she once was and the broken creature it made her out to be. It was not what I meant to do, but I just offered her payment for sex and I knew that she would never be able to forgive me for it.

CHAPTER 29: BEN

The moment the team made the final touchdown that won us the game, my eyes immediately flew to the bleachers in search of Sofia. It was a championship game and she knew how much it meant to me to win it. I was looking forward to having my girlfriend run into my arms, congratulate me, having her lips press against mine. But I was only met with utter disappointment when I searched the field for her and realized that she was nowhere to be found. Instead, my mother was the one approaching me, carrying Abby in her arms.

“Ben! I’m so proud of you!” she cooed as she pecked me on the cheek.

Abby squealed out a string of cheers and yells that didn’t really make much sense to me. I figured she was trying to imitate the cheerleaders, but couldn’t remember the words, so she made up her own.

“Thanks, mom, and thank you for that very unique cheer, Abby.” I looked around, wanting to see Sofia. “Where’s dad and Sofia?”

My mother rolled her eyes. “Sofia left the stadium with a friend of hers not long after the game began. When she didn’t return, your dad went looking for her. I haven’t heard from him yet. I’ll call him while you go take a shower?”

Something was wrong and I knew it. No matter how much the whole appeal of football escapes Sofia, she wouldn’t walk out on a game she knows is this important to me. “Do you know who this friend of hers is?”

“No… I haven’t seen her before… though she isn’t exactly someone easy to forget. Tall, pretty young woman with black hair.”

I searched my mind for anyone Sofia and I knew who could fit that description and shook my head. “I’ll try to call Sofia.”

I walked toward the benches where I left my phone with one of the junior second-liners. My mom and sister were trailing behind me. I got the phone from him and dialed Sofia’s number. Several rings later, I was about to give up, but someone picked up.

“Hello?” a deep, male voice spoke from the other end of the line.

It took a couple of seconds before the familiar voice registered. “Dad? Where’s Sofia? Is she alright?”

“Yeah. She’s fine. We’re back home.” He tried to lighten up his tone. “Hey… Did you win the game?”

“Yes, we did. Can I talk to Sofia please?”

“She’s unconscious at the moment, but don’t worry. She’s…”

“Unconscious? Why is she unconscious? What happened? I’m gonna be right there…”

“Ben.” My father’s voice was both firm and soothing. “Trust me. She’s alright. Take a shower, have a celebratory dinner with your mother and sister… Don’t worry about Sofia. She’ll be waiting up for you when you return.”

“She’s my girlfriend, dad. How can I not worry?”

The shock on my mother’s face upon hearing what I just said didn’t escape my notice. I didn’t care. It was about time she found out. I didn’t even wait for a response from my father. I shut my phone and rushed to the locker room to get changed, without bothering to explain to my gaping mother. We were already driving home when she brought up the subject.

“You and Sofia…” Her grip tightened around the steering wheel. “How long have you been together?”

“I saw them kissing, mommy…” Abby piped up from the backseat.

“Shut up, Abby.”

“Don’t talk to your sister that way. Answer my question.”

I glared at my Abby as she stuck her tongue out at me before replying, “We started dating a couple of weeks before prom.”

She gulped before firing her next question. “Did you sleep together on the night of prom?”

Way to get straight to the point. “No, mom…” I clenched my jaw. “Well, yes… we spent the whole night together in the same room, but nothing happened.”

“She’s trouble, Ben.”

“See? There it is. That’s why we kept it from you, because we knew you’d react this way… You’ve always been overprotective of me, Mom… and Sofia doesn’t need to deal with being rejected by you…”

“You don’t know her.”

“She’s my best friend and now she’s my girlfriend. I know her far better than you ever will. And if you had even bothered to spend time with her over the past eight years, you would know what an incredible person she is. Dad did.”

I could see anger flare in my mother’s eyes. “Your father knew?”